Rail-joint.



H. FROTHEROE, E SMITH 80 MW. WAY.

RAIL 301111.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29. 1969i 1 938,272. Patented Oct. 26,1909

snoeutoqs UNITED STATES PATENT oFF cn.

HARRY PRo HERoE AND HARRY SMITH, OF SWISSVALE, AND GEORGE W. WAY, OF

WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-JOINT.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, (1.) ,ITARRY Pno'rin' neon, (2) HARRY SMITH, and(3) Gnoncn \V. \VAY, citizens of the United States of '5 America,residing at (l) and (2) Swissvale,

and \Vilkinsburg, in the county of Alle-' gheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRail-Joints, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to rail joints, and the obj ccts of our inventionare, first, to provide a novel rail chair for supporting the confrontingends of two rails; second, to use positive and reliable means inconnection with a rail chair for retaining the confronting ends of tworails thereon, and prevent lateral and vertical displaeenmnt of saidrails third, to obviate the necessity of using bolts and nuts as a railfastening medium; and 'l'iuirth to provide a strong and durable railioint that can be easily and quickly placed in p flion to support theconfronting ends of two rails without the use of skilled labor.

Ne attain the above objects by a rail joint that will be hereinafterdescribed in detail and claimed.

Referring to the drawing forming part 'of this specification, Figure l.is an end view of the rail joint partly broken away and partly insection, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same partly broken away andpartly in section, Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of one of thesplice bars of the rail oint, and Fig. 4c a plan of one of the taperingkeys used in connection with the joint.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 designates a rail chair adapted to besupported upon one or more ties 2. This chair is provided withoppositely disposed vertical side walls '5}, extending from one end ofthe chair to the opposite end, the lower outer edges of these walls areprovided with lateral flanges 4. extending throughout the length of saidwalls whereby the chair can be secured upon the lies 2 by spikes 5engaging said lateral Ila nges.

The chair 1 is adapted to support the confronting ends of rails havingbase flanges 6, web portions 7, and heads 8, said base langes restingupon the chair 1 between the vertical side walls 3. The web portions 7oi. the rails are provided with equally spaced Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Oct. 26, 1909.

Application filed April 29, 1909. Serial No. 492,970.

transverse openings .9 and adapted to engage in said openings are ovalbosses 10, equally spaced upon the inner sldes of splice bars 11,

said splice bars resting upon the base flanges (3 embracing the webportigns 7 of the rails. The bosses 10 confront one another in theopenings 9, and each boss is of a length equivalent to one-half thelength of each of the openings 9. The outer sides of the splice bars-l1are provided with V-shaped tapering grooves 12 adapted to confronttapering grooves 13 formed in the inner sides of the walls 3, thegrooves 12 and 13. corresponding in length to the splice bars 11 and thewalls 3 and tapering in the same direction. To lock the splice bars 11in the chair, tapering keys 1st are used, said keys having taperinglongitudinal V .shaped ribs 15 adapttl to engage in the grooves 12 andlongitudinalribs lti'adapted to engage in the grooves 12 these ribscorresponding in cross section to the shape of the grooves 12 and 1.3.The keys have the smaller ends thereof split, as at 17, whereby thesplit ends of said keys can be spread after the keys have been placed inposition, to prevent the keys becoming accidentally disengaged from thechair.

The splice bars 11 have the sides thereof' confronting the webs 7 andthe base flanges (3, cut away, as at 18, to allow for the expansion ofthe rails held by said splice bars.

The chair, splice bars, and keys ar constructed of strong and durablemetahand the sizes and shapes can be varied according to the weight andtype of rails in connection with which they are used.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new, is

A rail joint comprising the combination with a pairof abutting railsections, each having its web portion provided, with a transverseopening, of a chair adapted to support said rail sections and comprisinga 7 base having vertically disposed walls at the sides thereof, theinner faces of each of said walls at a point removed from its upperterminus provided with longitudinally-ex tending grooves, splicebarsseated upon the base of the rail section and adapted to brace thesaid rail section, said splice bars provided with bosses on the innerfaces thereof, said bosses adapted to extend in the trans' verseopenings of said rail sections for connecting said sections ogether,said splice bzirs having the outer sides thereof provided withlongitudinally-extending grooves positioned at a point removed from thetop thereof, and opposing the grooves in the Walls of the chair wherebywhen the splice bars are arranged in 0 emtive relation with respect tothe walls 0 the chair longitudi-' holly-extending openings are providedwhich communicate with the contracted passage formed at the top of thesides of the splice bars. and topof the walls of the chair, and keysprovided with the contracted portion at the top thereof, saidkeys-extending in said openings and contracted passages, said keyshaving one end split, said split end adapted 1.5

In testimony whereof we affix oiiosigna- 20 tures in the presence of twowitnesses.

HARRY PROTHERGE. HARRY SMITH. GEORGE XV. WAY.

" Witnesses:

' A. H. RABSAG,

J AS. V. McMAsTRn.

